Ski boot binding

ABSTRACT

A binding for a ski boot of the type having a pair of outwardly projecting pins at front portions of the sole thereof. The binding is primarily designed for cross-country skiing and includes a plate which is adapted to be secured to the top surface of a ski. A pair of upstanding retaining flanges extend upwardly from a front end of the plate, each of the upstanding flanges including a means to engage and retain an outwardly projecting pin on the sole of the boot. Means are provided on the retaining flanges for releasing the pins from engagement with the engaging and retaining means. A U-shaped bracket is fixed to a rear portion of the plate with the legs of the bracket extending upwardly from the ski to engage the sides of the boots retained by the binding. In one embodiment, at least one of the pins is spring loaded and the releasing means comprises a lever pivotably mounted to an upstanding flange, the lever having a camming portion adapted upon actuation to bear against the spring loaded pin to release the pin from engagement with the retaining flange. In another embodiment, the pins are fixed within the boots, a slot is provided in the retaining flanges for reception of the pins, and a spring biased latch retains the pins within the slot.

United States Patent [191 Zaagman 1 1 SKI BOOT BINDING [75] Inventor:David A. Zaagman, Aspen, C010.

[73] Assignee: Ed Zaagman, Inc., Grand Rapids,

Mich.

[22] Filed: June 5, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 259,517

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 7, 1971 Norway 2128/71 v[52]US. Cl. 280/ll.35 B [51] Int. Cl. A63c 9/18 [58] Field ofSearch..280/11.35 B, 11.35 L, 23 1 1 2W 1,1.-3,.5 V1 A-2.5,Rt 33L329,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,144,207 1/l939 Tiefel280/1l.35 B 2,152,527 3/1939 Bertrand ..I 280/11.35 B 3,244,431 4/1966Hatlapa 280/1 1.35 E 3,608,919 9/1971 Lollman et a1 280/1 1.35 R

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [451 June 18, 1974 Primary Examiner-LeoFriaglia Assistant Examiner-Milton L. Smith Attorney, Agent, 0rFirmMcGarry & Waters ABSTRACT A binding for a ski boot of the typehaving a pair of outwardly projecting pins at front portions of the solethereof. The binding is primarily designed for crosscountry skiing andincludes a plate which is adapted to be secured to the top surface of aski. A pair of upstanding retaining flanges extend upwardly from a frontend of the plate, each of the upstanding flanges including a means toengage and retain an outwardly projecting pin on the sole of the boot.Means are provided on the retaining flanges for releasing the pins fromengagement with the engaging and retaining means. A U-shaped bracket isfixed to a rear portion of the plate with the legs of the bracketextending upwardly from the ski to engage the sides of the bootsretained by the binding. In one embodiment, at least one of the pins isspring loaded and the releasing means comprises a lever pivotablymounted to an upstanding flange, the lever having a camming portionadapted upon actuation to bear against the spring loaded pin to releasethe pin from engagement with the retaining flange. In anotherembodiment, the pins are fixed within the boots, a slot is provided inthe retaining flanges for reception of the pins, and a spring biasedlatch retains the pins within the slot.

8 Claims, 9 Drawingjigures n SKI BOOT BINDING BACKGROUND or THEINVENTION I. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a ski bootbinding. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a cross-countryski boot binding wherein the ski boot has outwardly projecting pins at afront portion thereof which are received and releasably retained by thebinding.

2. State of the Prior Art Cross-country ski boot bindings are a means ofsecuring the boot to the cross-country ski. For cross-country purposes,the heel of the boot is permitted to move upwardly away from the skiwhereas the toe of the boot is retained fixed against the ski so thatthe skier can raise his heel while skiing much the same way that onedoes while walking. One commonly used ski boot binding provides a pairof upstanding flanges for engagement with the sole of the ski boot. Apair of protuberances on the flanges fit over the sole of the ski bootto retain the sole therebeneath. A cable is secured tightly around theheel of the ski boot to force the boot into engagement with theretaining flanges of the binding. This so-called cable binding iseffective in normal touring operation but the ski boot has a tendency tomove laterally within the binding, which movement results in loss ofheel control which is necessary for guiding the ski in downhillmovement. In this type of binding, it is therefore difficult tonegotiate more than simple turns while skiing downhill.

Another type of cross-country ski boot binding requires a special bootwith a square extended sole at the front portion thereof. The bindingcomprises a toggle clamp which clamps onto the squared extended portionof the sole. This type of binding offers more heel control than thecable binding but requires a special type of boot which is adaptedalmost exclusively for crosscountry skiing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, there is provided acrosscountry ski boot binding wherein the soles of the shoes areprovided with outwardly directed pins at a front portion thereof. Thepins can be mounted in conventional hiking boots by a simple process, orthe boots can be specially constructed with the pins. In any case, theboot can be of any shape and can be used as a hiking boot or any othertype of boot.

The binding comprises a plate which is secured to the upper surface of aski and a pair of upstanding retaining flanges at a front end of theplate. Each of the retaining flanges includes a means to engage andretain the outwardly projecting pins of the boot. At least one of theretaining flanges mounts a means for releasing the pins from engagementwith the retaining flanges. Desirably, a U-shaped bracket is fixed to arear portion of the plate with the legs of the U-shaped bracketextending upwardly to abut against the sides of a boot retained by thebinding. The U-shaped bracket at the rear portion of the plate does notinterfere with the normal operation of the boot and retains the boot inits predetermined orientation to give added heel control during downhillskiing.

In one embodiment, at least one of the pins in the boot is spring loadedand the retaining end engaging means comprises a lever pivotably mountedon one of the upstanding flanges, the lever having a camming surfaceadapted to cam said pin out of engagement with the opening in theretaining flange.

In another embodiment, the retaining and engaging means comprises a slotin the upstanding retaining flanges and a latch, pivotably mounted tothe retaining flanges, the latch hooking behind the pins to retain thepins in the slots. The latch is movable to a position for releasing thepins from the slot and means are provided to bias the latch in theretaining position with respect to the pins.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a binding according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view in section taken along lines 22 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view in section along lines 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through lines 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of a release mechanismassociated with the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial plan view of the release mechanismillustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view along lines 7-7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a side view of a second embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view taken along lines 99 of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to thedrawings, and to FIGS. 1 7 in particular, there is illustrated a ski 12having a binding 14 secured to the top portion thereof through aplurality of screws 16. The binding 14 has a base portion 18 andupstanding retaining flanges 20 and 22 at a front portion thereof. Araised channel 24 is provided transversely of the binding at a rearportion thereof and retains a U-shaped bracket 26 whose legs extendupwardly from the ski to abut against the sides of the boot (shown inphantom lines in FIG. I) retained by the binding. A gripping hole 28 isprovided on the upstanding retaining flange 22 for reception of anoutwardly directed pin 53 (FIG. 1) which may extend from the sole of theski boot 46.

The upstanding flange 22 has a base 30 with a gripping hole 32 thereinfor reception of a spring biased pin 54 (FIG. 7). A release lever 34 ispivotably mounted on the upstanding retaining flange 20 by means ofpivot pin 36. The front of the release lever 34 includes a cammingportion 38 adapted to bear against and force retraction of the springmounted pin 54. A tab 40 on the rear portion of the release lever 34facilitates operation of the release mechanism. A spring 42 is securedat one end to the retaining flange 20 through a pin 44 and at the otherend bears against the upper portion of the release level 34 to bias thelever 34 into the inoperative position illustrated in FIG. 5.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 7, the shoe 46 has a sole 48 with abore 50. A housing 52 in the sole 48 slidably retains a spring loadedpin 54 which is biased outwardly by spring 56. The pin 54 desirably iskeyed to the housing 52 so that it maintains a particular orientationwith respect to the boot and with respect to the binding. As seen inFIG. 7, the outer surface of the pin 54 is beveled upwardly andoutwardly. The upper surface of the camming portion 38 of release lever34 is beveled corrrespondingly so that as the camming portion 38 bearsagainst the outer end of the spring loaded pin 54, the pin is pushedinto the housing 52, thereby releasing the pin from engagement with thehole 32 of the retaining flange 20.

The other pin 53 in the sole 48 can also be spring loaded although aspring loaded pin on the other side is unnecessary. Once the pin 54 isreleased from engagement with the upstanding flange 20, the pin 53 canbe easily disengaged.

In operation of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 7, the boot iseasily secured to the binding by inserting the pin 53 into hole 28 ofthe upstanding retaining flange 22. The other side of the boot is thenbrought down so that the outer end of the pin 54 bears against the topof the base portion 30 above the hole 32 of the retaining flange 20.Downward pressure on the boot will force the pin 54 into the housing 52so that the pin 54 can move downwardly along the inner surface of base30 until it reaches hole 32. At this point, the pin moves outwardlyunder the force of the spring 56 to engage the hole 32.

During normal skiing operation, the boot will be tightly retained in thebinding with the heel being permitted to move upwardly with respect tothe binding. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the retaining flanges and 22 areslanted inwardly to retain the front of the boot against forwardmovement with respect thereto. During downhill skiing, the upstandinglegs of the bracket 26 will restrain lateral movement of a centralportion of the boot within the binding. Further, lateral movement of theboot within the binding is restricted by the positioning of the pins 53,54 of the boot in the holes 28 and 32 of the retaining flanges 22 and 20respectively. The boot is removed from the binding by simply pressingdown on the tab 40 to cam the retractable pin 54 out of engagement withthe hole 32 as described more fully above.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 8 and 9 for a description of the secondembodiment of the invention. The ski 12 has a binding 60 secured theretothrough a plurality of screws 70 in conventional fashion. The bindinghas a pair of identical front retaining flanges 62 extending upwardlyfrom a base plate portion 68. Each of the retaining flanges has aretaining slot 64 and a hole 68. A spring member 72 is integrally formedwith the base portion 68 and extends upwardly from a front portionthereof. A cradle 74 is formed at a top portion of the spring 72.Desirably, the base plate portion 68, the retaining flanges 62, and thespring 72 are all stamped from a single piece of material of, forexample, a medium carbon steel. The material is of sufficient strengthand resiliency such that the spring 72 provides a substantial upwardpressure against the retainer 80.

A retainer 80 has a bight portion 82 positioned within the cradle 74 ofspring 72. The retainer 80 is bent inwardly at 84 around the frontportion of the retaining flanges 62 and tits through the holes 66therein. The retainer 80 extends rearwardly at 86 along the inside edgesof the retaining flanges 62 and is bent downwardly at 88 behind the pins78 in a retaining position illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. The inwardlybent portions 84 prevent forward and rearward movement of the retainerwith respect to the retaining flanges 62. The boot 46 has a sole 48 witha plate member 76 integrally moldedtherein or otherwise secured withinthe sole. A pair of pins 78 extend outwardly of the plate portion andoutwardly of the sole to engage the retaining slots 64 of the flanges62. The sole is cut away at to provide a space for rearwardly directedportions 86 of the retainer 80.

The retainer 80 is movable between a retaining position illustrated inFIGS. 8 and 9 to a release position wherein the downwardly bent portions88 move upwardly from behind the pins 78. The spring 72 acting throughcradle 74 biases the bight portion 82 of the retainer upwardly withrespect to the ski, thereby biasing the downwardly bent portions 88 intothe retaining position illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. In order to releasethe downwardly bent portions 88 with respect to the pins 78, the bightportion 82 is pushed downwardly against the tension in spring 72,whereby the retainer pivots on the holes 66 in the retaining flanges 62about portions 84 of the retainer 80. By this action, the bent portions88 are raised with respect to the pins 78 so that the pins are releasedfrom engagement therewith. This latter position is the released positionof the retainer 80. Although not illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9,preferably, the bracket 26 is provided at a rear portion of the baseplate 68 with a bracket 26 in the same fashion as illustrated in thefirst embodiment in the FIGS. 1 and 2.

The invention provides a simple means for securing a boot to a ski suchthat the boot is pivotably secured at a front portion to the ski, yetsufficient retaining means are provided in the connection and ancillarythereto by means of the bracket 26 to assure a positive heel control forthe ski. The binding is easily secured to the ski boot and remains sosecured during normal use. Yet, the boot is easily removed from thebinding when it is desirable to do so.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope ofthe foregoing disclosure, the drawings, and appended claims withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows.

1. In combination with a boot, a ski, and a binding secured to the skifor mounting the boot on the ski so that the heel of the boot is freelyvertically movable with respect to the ski in normal operation of theski, the improvement comprising:

said boot having a sole with a pair of elongated pins mounted at a frontportion thereof and projecting outwardly, at least one of the pins beingretractably spring loaded in the sole;

the binding including a plate secured to the ski, the

plate having a pair of upstanding flanges at a front portion thereof,the flanges being spaced and sized to snugly receive the front portionof the sole therebetween, each of the flanges including an opening toreceive and retain the outwardly projecting pins on the sole of theboot; and

means movably mounted on the plate for releasing the spring loaded pinfrom engagement with the corresponding opening in the adjacent retainingflange, said releasing means including a cam lever with a cam surfacepositioned to contact the outer end of the spring loaded pin, the camsurface being shaped to retract the spring loaded pin upon movement ofthe cam lever with respect to the plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the cam lever is pivotably mountedon the adjacent retaining flange and the cam surface is beveled withrespect to the axis of the pin.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the cam lever is mounted formovement transverse with respect to the axis of the spring loaded pin.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the cam lever is mounted formovement transverse to the axis of the spring loaded pin.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein the spring loaded pin has abeveled outer surface at an acute angle to the axis of the pin tofacilitate retraction of the spring loaded pin while inserting the pininto the corresponding opening in the adjacent flange.

6. The combination of claim 1 and further comprising a U-shaped bracketsecured to a rear portion of the plate, the bracket having upstandinglegs near a central portion of the sole to restrain lateral movement ofthe boot with respect to the plate and yet permit free upward movementof the heel of the boot with respect to the ski.

7. In combination with a boot, a ski, and a binding secured to the skifor mounting the boot on the ski so that the heel of the boot is free tomove vertically with resaid boot having a sole with a pair of elongatedpins mounted at a front portion thereof and projecting outwardlytherefrom;

said binding including a plate secured to said ski and a pair ofupstanding flanges at a front portion of said plate, said flanges beingspaced and sized to snugly receive the front portion of said soletherebetween, each of said flanges including a slot opening rearwardlyof the flanges and sized to receive the elongated pins therein;

a retainer of generally U-shaped configuration extending forwardly ofthe boot, the intermediate portions of the legs of said retainer beingpivotably mounted on the upstanding flanges of the plate, said retainerhaving portions extending rearwardly along sides of said flanges and theends thereof bent downwardly behind said pins in said slots to retainsaid pins in said slots; and

means biasing said retainer into a latching position wherin the ends ofthe retainer are biased behind the pins, and wherein movement of theretainer in opposition to the biasing means moves the retainer ends frombehind the pins so that the pins can be removed from the slots byrearward movement of the boot.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the rearwardly extending portionsof said retainer are positioned on the insides of said flanges and thesole has portions thereof recessed to receive the rearwardly extendingportions of the retainer'

1. In combination with a boot, a ski, and a binding secured to the skifor mounting the boot on the ski so that the heel of the boot is freelyvertically movable with respect to the ski in normal operation of theski, the improvement comprising: said boot having a sole with a pair ofelongated pins mounted at a front portion thereof and projectingoutwardly, at least one of the pins being retractably spring loaded inthe sole; the binding including a plate secured to the ski, the platehaving a pair of upstanding flanges at a front portion thereof, theflanges being spaced and sized to snugly receive the front portion ofthe sole therebetween, each of the flanges including an opening toreceive and retain the outwardly projecting pins on the sole of theboot; and means movably mounted on the plate for releasing the springloaded pin from engagement with the corresponding opening in theadjacent retaining flange, said releasing means including a cam leverwith a cam surface positioned to contact the outer end of the springloaded pin, the cam surface being shaped to retract the spring loadedpin upon movement of the cam lever with respect to the plate.
 2. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein the cam lever is pivotably mounted on theadjacent retaining flange and the cam surface is beveled with respect tothe axis of the pin.
 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the cam leveris mounted for movement transverse with respect to the axis of thespring loaded pin.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the cam leveris mounted for movement transverse to the axis of the spring loaded pin.5. The combination of claim 1 wherein the spring loaded pin has abeveled outer surface at an acute angle to the axis of the pin tofacilitate retraction of the spring loaded pin while inserting the pininto the corresponding opening in the adjacent flange.
 6. Thecombination of claim 1 and further comprising a U-shaped bracket securedto a rear portion of the plate, the bracket having upstanding legs neara central portion of the sole to restrain lateral movement of the bootwith respect to the plate and yet permit free upward movement of theheel of the boot with respect to the ski.
 7. In combination with a boot,a ski, and a binding secured to the ski for mounting the boot on the skiso that the heel of the boot is free to move vertically with respect tothe ski in normal operation of the ski, the improvement which comprises:said boot having a sole with a pair of elongated pins mounted at a frontportion thereof and projecting outwardly therefrom; said bindingincluding a plate secured to said ski and a pair of upstanding flangesat a front portion of said plate, said flanges being spaced and sized tosnugly receive the front portion of said sole therebetween, each of saidflanges including a slot opening rearwardly of the flanges and sized toreceive the elongated pins therein; a retainer of generally U-shapedconfiguration extending forwardly of the boot, the intermediate portionsof the legs of said retainer being pivotably mounted on the upstandingflanges of the plate, said retainer having portions extending rearwardlyalong sides of said flanges and the ends thereof bent downwardly behindsaid pins in said slots to retain said pins in said slots; and meansbiasing said retainer into a latching position wherin the ends of theretainer are biased behind the pins, and wherein movement of theretainer in opposition to the biasing means moves the retainer ends frombehind the pins so that the pins can be removed from the slots byrearward movement of the boot.
 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein therearwardly extending portions of said retainer are positioned on theinsides of said flanges and the sole has portions thereof recessed toreceive the rearwardly extending portions of the retainer.